Robert Grant.—Born in Boston (1852), Robert Grant graduated from Harvard in 1873 and became Ph.D. in 1876 and LL.B. in 1879. He has followed law and letters side by side. In 1893 he was appointed Judge of the Probate Court and the Court of Insolvency for Suffolk County, Massachusetts. He has written, among other things, “The Confessions of a Frivolous Girl” (1880), “An Average Man” (1884), “The Knave of Hearts” (1886), “The Reflections of a Married Man” (1892), “The Opinions of a Philosopher” (1893), “The Bachelor’s Christmas, and Other Stories” (1895), and “Unleavened Bread” (1900), his best known and most powerful story. Mr. Grant is a trenchant satirist of the foibles of certain aspirants to social prominence. Selma, in “Unleavened Bread,” is a veritable incarnation of ignoble social ambition.
Henry Harland.—Henry Harland (1861–1905) was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and was educated at the College of the City of New York, Harvard, Paris, and Rome. In 1886 he removed to London, where he became well known as the editor of The Yellow Book. His earlier stories, including “As It Was Written” (1885), a musician’s story, “Mrs. Peixada” (1886), “The Land of Love” (1887), “My Uncle Florimond” (1888), and others, were published as by “Sidney Luska”; they circulated widely but were later condemned by Harland himself as trashy. He later wrote “Mea Culpa” (1893), “Comedies and Errors” (1898), “The Cardinal’s Snuff-Box” (1900), which scored a decided success, and “My Lady Paramount” (1902). His brilliance and geniality are reflected in his works, but his vein was not an extensive one.
Thomas Nelson Page.—One of the leading novelists of the South to-day is Thomas Nelson Page. Born in 1853 at Oakland, Virginia, he studied (1869–72) at Washington and Lee University and (1873–74) at the University of Virginia. After practising law for some years, he turned, like many other lawyers, to literature. “Marse Chan” (The Century, April, 1884) met with great favour, and was followed by other short stories, which were collected in 1887 under the title “In Ole Virginia.” The life in Virginia before and during the war was further presented in “Two Little Confederates” (1888), “On New Found River” (1891), “Elsket, and Other Stories” (1891), “The Burial of the Guns, and Other Stories” (1894), “Red Rock, a Chronicle of Reconstruction” (1898), “The Old Gentleman of the Black Stock” (1900), and “Gordon Keith” (1903). Mr. Page has a strong affection for the Old South, and vividly and powerfully delineates the life of the aristocracy and the negroes. While sympathetic, his descriptions of the system of slavery are free from bitterness and are entitled to consideration as truthful and convincing. Probably he has never surpassed his earlier short stories, which exhibit most distinctively the charm of his style; but “Red Rock,” at least, has demonstrated his ability to write successfully also on a larger scale.
Thomas Allibone Janvier.—Thomas A. Janvier (born in 1849), a native of Philadelphia, became a New York journalist and then a writer of stories. He has been especially successful in depicting the Bohemian life of the metropolis. His “Color Studies: Four Stories” (1885), reprinted from The Century, narrate the struggles of a painter in New York; though slight, they are realistic and agreeable. Having made an exhaustive study of Mexico, he put his knowledge to good use in “The Aztec Treasure House: a Romance of Contemporaneous Antiquity” (1890), a successful romantic novel dealing with a legend of buried treasure and a story of wholesome flavour and sustained interest. He has also written “Stories of Old New Spain” (1895) and several others.
Some New England Women.—Here may be grouped several gifted daughters of the Puritans, some of whom deserve more space than can be given them. Mrs. Jane Goodwin Austin (1831–94) wrote several readable historical romances of colonial New England. Among her works are “A Nameless Nobleman” (1881), “Dr. Le Baron and His Daughters” (1890), sequel to the first, “Standish of Standish” (1889), and “David Alden’s Daughter and Other Stories” (1892).
Mrs. Rose Terry Cooke (1827–92), a native of Connecticut, was known as a poet for many years before she began to write short stories. She published the following collections: “Happy Dodd” (1879), “Somebody’s Neighbours” (1881), “Root-Bound” (1885), “The Sphinx’s Children” (1886), and “Huckleberries Gathered from New England Hills” (1891). “The Deacon’s Week” (1884) may count as her best story. In all her stories the humours of New England Yankee character are set forth with vigour and relish. She wrote a single novel, “Steadfast, the Story of a Saint and a Sinner” (1889), dealing with early New England church life, and ranking much above the average novel.
Mrs. Annie Trumbull Slosson, likewise of Connecticut, has shown skill in dialect stories, of which “Fishin’ Jimmy” (1889), “Seven Dreamers” (1890), “The Heresy of Mehetabel Clark” (1892), and “Dumb Foxglove, and Other Stories” (1898) may be mentioned. The grotesque elements of New England life especially appeal to her.
Mrs. Clara Louise Burnham (born at Newton, Massachusetts, in 1854) has lived in Chicago since childhood, but is fond of locating her scenes in New England. She has written many stories, among them “No Gentleman” (1881), “A Sane Lunatic” (1882), “Dearly Bought” (1884), “Next Door” (1886), “Young Maids and Old” (1888), “Miss Bagg’s Secretary” (1892), “Dr. Latimer” (1893), “The Wise Woman” (1895), “A West Point Wooing” (1899), and “The Right Princess” (1902).
Alice Brown (born in New Hampshire in 1857), after teaching school for several years, devoted herself to literature, and is now a member of the staff of The Youth’s Companion. She has written “Fools of Nature” (1887), “Meadow-Grass” (1895), short tales of New England village life, “The Day of His Youth” (1897), a story of disillusionment, “Tiverton Tales” (1899), “King’s End” (1901), “Margaret Warrener” (1901), “The Mannerings” (1903), and “High Noon” (1904). Her stories are skilfully constructed, and she writes with commendable restraint and dignity.